field notes on domestic bliss

May 13, 2012

"all i've got at home is two dogs and four cats and six bunny rabbits and two parakeets and three canaries and a green parrot and a turtle and a bowl of goldfish and a cage of white mice and a silly old hamster! i want a squirrel!!"

eating gluten-free last week turned out to not be too much of a challenge for me (except for that night out with marley's class at that great italian restaurant where i couldn't resist a bowl of spicy pasta, while listening to the giggling antics of a table of pre-teens...). other than that, a gluten-free cake-walk compared to the water week! (haha).

what's happened because of it, is that we have both re-launched our appetites for simple, whole foods.

the ultimate goal now is to spend 80% of the time eating nutritious, fortifying foods and allow a little cheat room for the occasional treat (in moderation). we're still figuring out what constitutes a treat, but i'm thinking cocktails on the weekends, homemade desserts, that kind of thing.

we have been food conscious for a long time, but we seem to be getting even more food-aware now that we're in our 40's, trying to make a lifestyle change that works for all of us, keeping us healthy, fit and strong.

:)

here are a couple links describing the benefits of eating whole foods. Here, here and here.

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creatively around the house, i am just trying to get this quilt project done. it's taking me ages, but i'm having a lot of fun working on it. this is just the top. the plan is to turn the whole thing into a slipcover for an enormous lounge pillow we have, that we love to pile up on loaded with books. but the pillow has a tacky old cover we're tired of looking at. i'm thinking that with the new cover, we'll read even more books. we'll just naturally want to sit there and read, enjoying the handmade goodness of the new slipcover.

April 20, 2012

gosh. the hair obsession continues. just found another great hair tutorial at ::a beautiful mess:: for a messy top knot. it makes me want to trim long bangs. and here's another one for braiding a reverse crown. cute!

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so, i've decided to do a 'gluten-free' diet challenge for next week, monday thru friday. we are not gluten free in this house, but i do notice that we tend to mix up our grains a bit more and eat more nourishing foods when we don't have wheat to fall back on. it takes a little more planning but i'm game. anyone else want to play along? maybe i'll do a photo post at the end of next week with all the meal alternatives we come up with + talk about how easy or hard it was.

a friend recommended i read "wheat belly", all about the benefits of eliminating wheat from your diet. i'm sort of afraid, knowing it might prompt me to move in that direction and i happen to love baking, mostly with wheat. but there are a ton of no-wheat baking alternatives out there these days + i have multiple foodie friends who have eliminated wheat from their diet who seem to be flourishing so...

in other news, my husband and i attempted a water challenge this week. the challenge was to drink only water for 5 days. eat normally, just replace sodas, juices, teas, coffee, alcohol, etc. with water.

i failed.

a friend brought over a bottle of wine, and he has very good taste in wine, so...

plus i drank yerbe mate twice. at least twice.

but. i did drink more water than usual (challenge ends tomorrow night, btw, haha. love that i'm blogging about this now as if it's already over). i also noticed that i was hungrier than usual, so i stuck more closely with the eat-five-small-meals-a-day rule. Rather than filling in with mugs of coffee or tea, i'd grab handfuls of nuts and raisons, apples with almond butter, things like that and water, of course.

i think i'm going to try again soon. anyone else up for the challenge?

April 18, 2012

we have had a restful spring break and now everyone is being hurled back into their routines, most of them against their will. oh for a lake and a hammock and a beckoning rowboat and the stillness of a sleepy dawn.

lately we are experimenting with hair-dos. this is rather big for us, because normally we are a no-fuss kind of family in the hair department + walk around with big tufts of hair sticking out in odd directions, as though the birds had their way making nests while we slept.

i'm in awe of the amount of hair tutorials that are out there and how accessible that makes things like braids. things like sideways french braids and cornrows + fishtail braids. braids i never knew how to do before. i'm even starting to collect photos of hair-styles that i find beautiful on pinterest.

why so keen on hair?

for one thing, it proffers me the occasional cherished moment with my now tween daughter who is otherwise preoccupied these days, nose in a book, surrounded by friends. she sat for over an hour while i attempted cornrows. she sat with me.

some of my favorite hair tutorials i've found around the internet lately:

March 26, 2012

via an inspiring website created by mieke verbijlen filled with photos of apartments + other things. she has a great eye. i love that bed, top right.

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i am forever interested in organizing the home + the different ways that people live. i probably spend way too much time gazing at photos and blogs + magazines on this subject.

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i am having a very lazy morning. it is gray and dreary outside and i love it. it is a day for tea and crisp, damp air blowing on one's face and perhaps a novel and a few phone calls and maybe a walk. maybe everything at once.